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But it's not that simple. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 prohibits "outside" interception of E-mail by a third party -- the government, the police or an individual -- without proper authorization (such as a search warrant). It does not, however, cover "inside" interception -- sneaking a peek at the office gossip's E-mail, for example. In the past, courts have ruled that interoffice communications were considered private only if employees had a "reasonable expectation" of privacy when they sent it.
The fact is no absolute privacy exists in a computer system, even for the boss. System administrators need to have access to everything in a computer in order to maintain it. Moreover, every piece of E-mail leaves an electronic trail. Though Oliver North tried to delete all his electronic notes in order to conceal the Iran-contra deal, copies of his secret memos ended up in the backup tapes made every night by White House system operators. "The phrase 'reasonable expectation of privacy' is a joke, because nobody reasonably expects any privacy nowadays," says Michael Godwin, general counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a not-for-profit group devoted to protecting the civil liberties of people using electronic networks.
Some computer users are taking matters into their own hands. If the law will not protect the privacy of their E-mail, they'll do it themselves -- by scrambling their messages with encryption codes. Godwin's group is advocating that the government let private individuals use the most powerful encryption systems -- systems that even the FBI can't crack. Unfortunately, such complex codes are likely to undermine the principal virtue of electronic mail: convenience. In the end, people bent on private communication -- or government officials involved in criminal conspiracies -- had best pick up the phone, or better yet, stroll down the hall and have a good old-fashioned face-to-face conversation.